The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-02-16
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Are We Deluded"

Subject: Are we Deiuueo:
TEXT: "He made his arrotos bright, lie
consulted ,pith images, he looked IN ths
lirer."-Ezekiel Xxx, 81.
Two modes of divination by which the
King of Babylon proposed to find out the
will of God. He took a bundle of arrows,
put them together mlHsa fba u
It decided what city he should first assault.
Then an animal was SIain, and by the lighter
or darker color of the liver, the brighter or
darker prospect Of success was inferred. Ihat
is the meaning of the text: He made his
arrows bright, he consulted with images ne
looked in the liver"
Stupid delusionl And yet all the ages have
been filled with deluslons it seems as if the
world loves to be hoodwinked, the deiuslon
of tie text only specimen OF vast numoer
of deceits practiced upon the human race. In
the latter part Of the last century Johanna
Southcote came forth, pretending to have
divine power, made prophecies, had chapels
built in her honor, and one hundred
five years before the birth OF Christ,
Arollonius was born, and he came forth,
and after five years being speechess accord,
ing to the tradition, he healed the sick and
raised the dead, and preached virtue. and,
according to the myth, having deceased, was
brought to resurrection!
The Delphic Oracle deceived vast multi
tudes of people: the Pythoness seated in the
Temple Of Apollo uttering crazy .Jargon
from which the people guessed their lndl-
yidual or national fortunes or mlSfortuneS.
The utterances were of such q nature that
YOU could read them any way you wanted
to read them. A General going forth to bat
tie, consulted the Delphic Oracle, and he
wanted to find out whether he was going 70
L =. &. =. &bo boffIa ar Gillad in tha hQftIa
and the answer came forth from the Delphic
Oracle in such words that, If you put the
comma before the word ''never," it means
one thing, and if you put the comma after
the word never" it means another thing,
lust opposite, The message from the
Delphic Oracle to the General was: "Go
forth, return never in battle shalt
thou perish" If he was killed, that
was according to the Delphic Oracle;
to the Delphic Oracle. So the ancient augur-
les deceived the people. The priests Of those
auguries, by the flight of birds, or by the in
tonation of thunder, or by the inside appear
ance of slain animals, told the fortunes or
misfortuues of individuals or nations. Ihe
sibyls deceived the people. The sibyls were
supposed to be inspired by women who lived
in caves and wrote the Sibylline books after
ward purchased by Tarquin the Proud. SO
pretending to be divine being, and playing
his part SO we'll that wealthy merchants BE-
came his disciples and threw their fortunes
into his discipleship. And so in all ages,
there have been necromancies, incantations,
withcrafts, sorceries, magical arts, enchant-
mentS, divinations and deluslons. The one
of the text was only a specimen OF that
which has been transpiring in all ages OF the
world. None of these delusions accom-
plished any coed They deceived, they
pauperized the people, they were as cruel as
they were absurd They opened no hospitals,
tt ey healed no wounds, they wiped away no
tears, they emaucipated no serfdom.
But there are those who say that all these
delusions combined are as nothing compared
with the delusion now abroad in the world,
the delusion of the Christian religion. That
delusion has to-day over four hundred mil.
lion dupes. 1t proposes to encircle the earth
with its girdle. That which has been called
q delusion has already overshadowed the
Appalachian range on this side the sea, and
1t has overshadowed the Balkan and Cau-
casian ranges on the other side of the sea. 1t
has conquered England and the United
States. This champion delusion this hoax,
this swindle Of the ages, as it has been called,
has gone forth to conquer the islands of the
Pacific: the Melanasia and the Micronesia
and Malayan Polynesia have already
surrendered to the delusion. Yea, it has
conquered the Ind an Archipe' ago. and Bor-
neo and Sumatra and Celebes and Java have
fallen under its wiles In the Fiji Islands,
where there are 220, 900 people. l02, 600 have
already bee ONE the dupes of this Christian
religion. and if things go on as they are now
hallucination of the ages cannot be stopped,
it will swallow the globe. Supposing, then,
that Christianity is the delusien of the centu-
ries, as some have pronounced it. l propose
his morning ~ show you what has been ac-
complished by this chimera, this fallacy, this
hoax, this swindle of the ages.
And in the first place, remark, that this
deluson Of the Chri stan religion has made
wonderful transformations OF human char
acter will go down the aisle Of any church
in Christendom, and will find on either side
that aisle those who were once proaigate.
profane, unclean Of speech and unclean Of
action, drunken and lost. But by the power
of this delusion of the Christian religion they
have been cumplet,l transformed, and now
they are kind and amiable and genial and
loving and useful Everybody sees the
change. Under the power of this great hallu-
cination they have quit their former asso-
chief delight among these who gambled
and swore and raced horses, now they find
their chief joy among those who go to prayer
meetings and churches; so complete is the de.
lusi n Yea, their own families have noticed
1.-THE wife has noticed it, the children have
noticed. The money that went for rum now
goes for books and for clothes and for e1uca-
sion. He is new man. All who know him
4iy there has been wonderful chauge.
What is the cause Of this changel This great
hallucination of the Christian religion There
is as much difference between whathe is now
and what he once was, as between rose and
q nettle, as between q dove and vulture,
as between day and night. Tremendous de-
lusiou!
Admiral Farragut, one Of the most ad-
mired men of the American navy, early
and, seated, not long before his death, at
Long Branch, he was giving some friends an
account of his early life. He said: "MY
father went down in behalf Of the United
States Government to put an end to Aaron
Burr's rebellion. 1 was q cabin boy and
went along W tn him. could swear like an
old salt. could gamble in every style OF
gambling. 1knew all the wickedness there
was at that time abroad. One day my father
myself, and locked the door. He said !:
David, what are you going to dol What
are you going to ber Well I
said, father, I am going to follow
the sea- Follow the sea! and be poor,
miserable drunken sailor, kicked and cuffed
abont the world die Of a fever in foreign
hospitals! oh! no. said, father. ! will
not be that; will tread the quarterback and
command, as you do No. David, my father
said; mo, David, person that has your
principles and your bad habits will never
tread the quarterback or command My
father went out and shut the door after him,
and said then: Il will change, will never
swear again. I will never drink again, I will
never gamble again. and, gentlemen, by the
help Of God have kept those three VOWS to